Fiscal Facts

During the November 2018 elections, at least 15 communities held property tax levy limit referenda to allow municipalities to exceed state-imposed limits.

Since 2005, Wisconsin has limited how municipal tax increases. Cities, counties, villages and towns may exceed them only by passing a referendum.

A growing share of Wisconsin’s prison inmates are serving time for violent crimes. Their numbers rose from 59.4 percent of inmates in 2006 to 66.0 percent in 2017.

The nature of prison admissions has shifted over the past three decades, and the trend in revocations may be due in part to the “truth in sentencing” law.

A number of factors affect Wisconsin’s inmate population, including the number of inmates entering the system (admissions) and leaving it (releases).

After a few years of decline, Wisconsin’s prison population has started to climb again, with the number of adults in state prisons reaching a record 23,687 in 2017, up 2.3 percent from the previous year.

Among the counties with the biggest gaps between median rents and median household incomes, eight have renter household incomes below the state median.

A household is considered rent-burdened if it spends more than 30 percent of income on rent. In Langlade County, 55.8 percent of renters are rent-burdened.

Based on 2016 U.S. Census Bureau estimates, 16 Wisconsin counties had gaps between the county’s median renter household income and the county’s median rent.

A 30 percent rent-to-income ratio is a standard used nationally to define housing affordability. Spending over 30 percent is considered “rent burdened.”